Dickie Dunn wrote:Tim Brent has impressed me in every game I've seen in this series.

The talk about Kiwi is warranted. He's been John Slaney Part Deux in these playoffs.

Brent will never play for the Penguins. Ever.

Did I say anything about him playing for the Pens? Didn't think so.

Oh, and he already has played for the Pens.

He will never be anything more than a fill in. Sorry.I didn't mean to offend you. No hard feelings?

Not sure if you know, but Brent led the WBS Baby Pens in scoring this year.

And he was their captain I believe, but let's not forget that last year when he was with the Ducks, he wasn't even welcomed to practice with the Black Aces when playoffs came around. Maybe he COULD wind up as a Jeff Taffe kind of a guy at some point, but, just IMO, he is not the kind of guy who will wind up with the Pens playing consistently, but I could well be wrong.

Yeah, the translation of AHL success to the NHL is far from certain. For example, Nathan Smith carried the puck for WBS on the PP often times from what I could tell. Can you see Smith filling that role in the NHL?

I hate Chicago's team. They are a bunch of old hack fringe NHLer's...Kind of bogus. Not a developmental team at all...

Definitely agree. The Trashers are in serious trouble. At least they have Haydar to groom Little and Sterling to be AHL lifers.

Bryan Little is the real deal. The only hope the Thrashers have is he and Enstrom on the blueline. Other than that, they will need Colby and Crusher to save them, and while I love those guys, they are not for the job, and Kovalchuk won't stay there forever.

Little's a center?

I know. Sorry if it was unclear. I mean Little.... and Enstrom (who plays D).

Gotcha. Yeah, Little is still only 19, right? Enstrom should be great for them, but, the cupboard is pretty bare. And to think Valabik was pegged as a slightly less talented Chara when he was drafted.

EDIT: Pavelec should be a legit #1 too.

I'm not sure exactly Little's age. I'd assume 19 or 20. I think Enstrom is a ton like Letang actually, only with a bit more offensive ability.

I hate Chicago's team. They are a bunch of old hack fringe NHLer's...Kind of bogus. Not a developmental team at all...

Definitely agree. The Trashers are in serious trouble. At least they have Haydar to groom Little and Sterling to be AHL lifers.

Bryan Little is the real deal. The only hope the Thrashers have is he and Enstrom on the blueline. Other than that, they will need Colby and Crusher to save them, and while I love those guys, they are not for the job, and Kovalchuk won't stay there forever.

Little's a center?

I know. Sorry if it was unclear. I mean Little.... and Enstrom (who plays D).

Gotcha. Yeah, Little is still only 19, right? Enstrom should be great for them, but, the cupboard is pretty bare. And to think Valabik was pegged as a slightly less talented Chara when he was drafted.

EDIT: Pavelec should be a legit #1 too.

I'm not sure exactly Little's age. I'd assume 19 or 20. I think Enstrom is a ton like Letang actually, only with a bit more offensive ability.

Yeah, a few years older, but, similar in style. If Letang gives anything to Enstrom in offense, Tobi probably lacks the bit of grit/commitment that Letang plays with in his own zone.

Dickie Dunn wrote:Tim Brent has impressed me in every game I've seen in this series.

The talk about Kiwi is warranted. He's been John Slaney Part Deux in these playoffs.

Brent will never play for the Penguins. Ever.

Did I say anything about him playing for the Pens? Didn't think so.

Oh, and he already has played for the Pens.

He will never be anything more than a fill in. Sorry.I didn't mean to offend you. No hard feelings?

Not sure if you know, but Brent led the WBS Baby Pens in scoring this year.

And he was their captain I believe, but let's not forget that last year when he was with the Ducks, he wasn't even welcomed to practice with the Black Aces when playoffs came around. Maybe he COULD wind up as a Jeff Taffe kind of a guy at some point, but, just IMO, he is not the kind of guy who will wind up with the Pens playing consistently, but I could well be wrong.

Yeah, the translation of AHL success to the NHL is far from certain. For example, Nathan Smith carried the puck for WBS on the PP often times from what I could tell. Can you see Smith filling that role in the NHL?

And sorry I thought Brent was the C for some reason. I think it's Smith actually.

But I don't think Smith will do a whole lot for us in the NHL just because of the little sample size we got last year. I went to the Boston 2-0 loss, and he stood out to me as just awful. He made a dumb play, not going to the bench for the line change with his line, and then got caught slow going back and somebody scored for the Bruins. And he obviously couldn't score. The one thing he can really do, just from what I've seen, is skate. He was very fast I remember.

I hate Chicago's team. They are a bunch of old hack fringe NHLer's...Kind of bogus. Not a developmental team at all...

Definitely agree. The Trashers are in serious trouble. At least they have Haydar to groom Little and Sterling to be AHL lifers.

Bryan Little is the real deal. The only hope the Thrashers have is he and Enstrom on the blueline. Other than that, they will need Colby and Crusher to save them, and while I love those guys, they are not for the job, and Kovalchuk won't stay there forever.

Little's a center?

I know. Sorry if it was unclear. I mean Little.... and Enstrom (who plays D).

Gotcha. Yeah, Little is still only 19, right? Enstrom should be great for them, but, the cupboard is pretty bare. And to think Valabik was pegged as a slightly less talented Chara when he was drafted.

EDIT: Pavelec should be a legit #1 too.

I'm not sure exactly Little's age. I'd assume 19 or 20. I think Enstrom is a ton like Letang actually, only with a bit more offensive ability.

Yeah, a few years older, but, similar in style. If Letang gives anything to Enstrom in offense, Tobi probably lacks the bit of grit/commitment that Letang plays with in his own zone.

Good point. Letang hits more, but Enstrom might have a very slight edge in speed.

The Snapshot wrote:I don't know who runs Atlanta's minor league operations in the AHL and ECHL, but it just seems that the Wolves just do their own thing.

Thats because they do do their own thing. They are independently owned and operated. The only connection they have to the Thrashers is an agreement that allows Atlanta to use Chicago as their minor league team. There is no guarantee of playing time or focus on developing players or talent for the Thrashers. A lot of the guys that fill out Chicago's roster actually have an AHL contract with Chicago, not an NHL deal with Atlanta. Its a really bad situation for the Thrashers.

The rules are clear on how many non "developmental" players a team can dress. I assume the rule carries forward into the playoffs:

What is the AHL's development rule?

In the AHL, player development is a top priority. Beginning in 2007-08, the AHL and the Professional Hockey Players' Association have established the following development rule:

Of the 17 skaters (not counting two goaltenders) that teams may dress for a regular-season game, at least 12 must be qualified as "development players." Of those 12, 11 must have played in 260 or fewer professional games (including AHL, NHL, IHL and European elite leagues), and one must have played in 320 or fewer professional games.

All calculations for development status are based on regular-season totals as of the start of the season.

If a guy starts the AHL regular season with close to 260 regular season professional games, he isn't much of an NHL prospect.